EXCLUSIVE: Ahead of next month’s Toronto International Film Festival, LA-based XYZ Films has pacted with Nikkatsu to handle North America sales on two of the Japanese distributor’s anticipated genre titles. Tokyo Tribe, the latest from helmer Sion Sono (Love Exposure, Cold Fish, Why Don’t You Play In Hell?), is adapted from Santa Inoue’s manga about futuristic gang wars waged between thugs who battle through violence and rap. The film is written and directed by Sono and is set to open TIFF’s Midnight Madness program next month. Producers are Yoshinori Chiba, Kinya Oguchi and Nobuhiro Iizuka.

XYZ’s also repping North America on action-thriller Yakuza Apocalypse from Takashi Miike (Audition, Ichi The Killer, 13 Assassins). The gangster pic/horror mash-up stars Yayan Ruhian of XYZ-produced The Raid and The Raid 2 alongside Hayato Ichihara in the story of a young yakuza who discovers his seemingly invincible boss is a vampire. Pic is written by Yoshitaka Yamaguchi and produced by Yoshinori Chiba, Shinichiro Masuda, Shinjiro Nishimura and Misako Saka. Nikkatsu is handling international sales on both films. XYZ and Nikkatsu first collaborated on the Sundance action-thriller Killers from Timo Tjahjanto and Kimo Stamboel, which XYZ repped worldwide on. “XYZ is thrilled to continue building our relationship with Nikkatsu,” said XYZ partner Aram Tertzakian. “We’re profoundly appreciative of the opportunity to be in business with Japan’s oldest studio and two of the country’s most inventive filmmakers.”

XYZ’s upcoming slate includes action thriller The Night Comes For Us directed by Killers‘ Tjahjanto with The Raid‘s Gareth Evans producing, which Radius-TWC will release next year. The company, which launched its sales division last year, will be in Toronto with Kevin Smith’s Tusk, Toa Fraser’s Maori action pic The Dead Lands, sci-fi horror romance Spring, and Midnight Madness selection Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films.